Stuck on Replay
by Create-tion
Summary: Things had gone so well for so long that when his scar began to hurt again, Harry felt the familiar sting of urgent fear. He feared for Ginny, for his children, and for his friends. They weren't ghost pains anymore. This was real. When a stranger appears in the bar, a spell was cast and Harry awoke to find himself a boy again at Hogwarts. What is happening...what is going on?
1. Rewind

It had been years since Harry had felt the familiar sting of his scar. As he watched a small thin barn owl tumble through the trees in poor fight, he felt Ginny near him in their living room. She ran her fingers gently down his arm from the elbow to wrist. She gave him a soft look, she knew that often times Harry needed a moment to settle his mind even with their lives being so calm and smooth now. Their children were all of age to attend Hogwarts now and the house was very silent in their absence.

"Where are you today?" Ginny asked in a soothing voice handing Harry a cup of tea.

"The maze…just after the tournament ended…just after…"

"Shhh." Ginny said clasping his hands around the porcelain cup to steady him. "Those things happened so long ago love. It's alright now. Let's comeback to today." She pressed her lips just against his cheek.

"I know Ginny. Thank you." He responded. "I'm not sure what it means…" he looked at her over the cup, their hands entwined.

"What what means dear?"

"It's begun hurting again." He said in a pained whisper. Ginny tightened the grip on his hands.

"No. No it can't." she said firmly.

"But it is…"

"It is not Harry Potter." She made a point of saying his name with a certain poignant annunciation. "You are feeling the ghost pains we talked about. It's the memories Harry." She pleaded searching his eyes.

"Maybe…" he said knitting his eyebrows together.

"It is. All is well." She said nodding, although if to assure herself or him Harry didn't know.

They had talked for years about the way his old memories could whisk Harry away at times. He would miss a simple word in a conversation, lapse in his desire to eat a meal of the day, and Ginny knew that the past they'd all been through was haunting him at those times. She had always done her best to assuage him. She'd gone through years of talking and talking and assuring him that he and their family was safe. At time, he felt what Ginny called ghosting pains through his scar; pains that he thought were real because they had at one time been so intense. He loved Ginny. He loved their children. He couldn't have asked for someone who would be able to deal with his problems any better than she. However, the pain slashing through his head over the last few days had given him pause to worry.

He had decided to meet Ron at The Leaky Cauldron for a quick drink that day. He assumed that if there were anyone he could actually talk to, it would be Ron. It wasn't that he didn't think Ginny understood how he felt, but the fear in his heart was that the pains were no longer ghost pains. They were too real. They were too intense and their frequency had increased. As he entered the bar, he caught sight of the familiar red hair sitting in a booth near the far corner of the window. However, it was dotted with grey hairs here and there now. It seemed that age had been hitting Ronald as hard as it had him. He slid in the side opposite of the booth across from his friend.

"Long time no see Ron." He greeted him.

"Eh, just last week. Are you really getting that forgetful old man?" he chuckled taking a sip of the Butterbeer he'd already ordered.

"Not to start this off on a bad note mate, but…I have to tell you something." Ron cleared his throat at Harry's sudden sullen voice.

"What?" he asked setting the glass down.

"The scar is hurting again." Harry said meeting Ron's eyes. "And it's not the fake pains…"

"You mean…" Ron leaned in worry filling his eyes.

"I can feel it." Harry sighed out starting to lean back in his seat rubbing it. The familiar throb was starting to ebb again.

"Is it now?" Ron asked incredulously. Harry nodded.

"Harry Potter?" someone said suddenly coming near their table. It was an older man, about their age, with a wand raised half in the air. He wore dark robes, tattered on the edges from weather. Harry glanced in the man's direction.

"Yes…and who…" he started but saw the wand. He and Ron both stilled and grabbed for theirs…

There was an explosion of wispy golden light that surrounded him and splintered him in painful fragments. Harry couldn't tell what spell the man had cast on him but he felt as if his insides were being ripped from his body.

As suddenly as the spell had been cast the pain vanished and there was nothing but darkness that engulfed him. Harry gasped taking in air like a fish in water. He looked around wildly in panic trying to see something. As he squinted his eyes the scene in front of him exploded again in a bath of white light.

When Harry was able to open his eyes, he noticed that he was laying in a patch of grass on a hill. He shifted and groaned as his stomach rolled. He turned on his side and held a few moments waiting to see if he was going to puke. In those small moments Harry was able to realize that he was actually laying on the grounds of Hogwarts, just near Hagrid's hut. Confused, he rounded to his feet. Looking around in a daze he also realized that his stature felt much shorter, his vision down a bit from where it normally was, and his eyesight felt keener than it had in years. Harry lifted a hand to his face and saw that he was in Hogwarts robes…he looked down to see his old shoes that he hadn't had since the year Slughorn was teaching at Hogwarts. Something was very wrong. Turning, he caught sight of himself in the small window of Hagrid's hut. He felt his eyes widen. He was looking at a much younger version of himself. He was a teenager again. Harry wasn't sure what to do with this realization. He whirled around hearing voices approaching the hut. He ran for the garden to hide behind a rather large pumpkin in the patch as they neared.

Draco Malfoy was tracing down the hill, wand raised, with nothing but malice goading him. Just ahead, there was a girl walking backwards with her wand raised as well. Draco sneered at her tightening the grip on the wan he held. The girl nearly tripped over a rock and had to stop to right herself.

"Get away from me Malfoy!" her tight voice snapped.

"I'll do nothing of the sort. You told him! You told him I needed help didn't you!" he said angrily where he'd stopped staring her down.

"I did not!" she pleaded. Harry had a better sight of her now that she was closer. He didn't remember this girl from before, couldn't place her face. She was tall, spindly, sort of all limbs. She had a mess of dark snarled curls that she was trying desperately to tame back in a low hanging pony tail. It was her eyes that caught him, her bight green wild eyes, glaring at Malfoy with as much intent as he had for her. They were like blazing emerald fires.

"You do need help!" she hissed back at him. "But I didn't say a word Draco." She lowered her voice.

"Then how else would he know!?" Draco stepped closer putting the wand to her face.

"I don't…my mum said something about the unbreakable vow Draco…he swore it. He must have found out some other way." The girl took Malfoy's wand and lowered it from her face.

"Don't touch me." He snarled yanking his wand from her hand.

"Let someone help Draco. We're all worried…" she whispered. The stress fracturing Draco's face was like a spider web and Harry could clearly remember the look from the moment he'd failed to kill Dumbledore.

"I don't need your crazy mum and you worried about me." He growled out low in his throat but he didn't move when she touched the cuff of his sleeve.

"I'd appreciate if you'd stop calling me crazy…or associating me with my mum." She said in a much softer voice.

"You might not be now, but you will be someday Arista." Draco smirked in a snide way as he side stepped her touch now. He turned away from her and made to travel back towards the school. He cast a glance over his shoulder at her.

"And you'll be as big of a disappointment as your father." She called back hotly. At this Draco faltered in his step, the smug smile falling from his face, and he quickly renewed his strut up the hill.

The girl's shoulders fell a bit as he left and Hagrid's door opened gently with a large groan.

"Ye be needed a bit of tea after that ruddy fight, won't ye Arista?" he asked in his thick gruff voice.

"That would be…nice Hagrid. Thank you." She smiled wiping at her eyes. As she came to him he put up a large arm and hugged her like a small child.

"Now don't ye be lettn' ol' Draco get ter ye. Your nothin' like ye mum." He assured her. "Ain't got nothin' in common with that witch Bellatrix at all." She nodded as he brought her inside and Harry felt his mind reel.

Had he heard correctly?

Bellatrix had a daughter?

He knew that wasn't right.

He knew he shouldn't be in his teenage body….and he knew that if he was here, wherever he was, in this time…that Voldermort wasn't dead.


	2. Let's Play Pretend

Although Harry had not recovered from the initial shock of arriving back in his former body, he had mustered up enough of himself to make his way towards the castle. His best hope was that he was not a split copy of his younger self and that he wouldn't run into the original here. He assumed that whatever curse had been placed on him, that it had merely jolted him backwards through time to his former self. However, the problem in his mind remained that there were people here, or rather a person in particular, did not belong here. He wondered just how much was different about his past other than Arista. What else had changed?

As he made his way back to the doors of the castle he caught sight of Ron. He waved a hand gesturing to get his attention. Calling his name, Ron turned to catch sight of Harry to which he smiled and started walking over. He wasn't alone Harry realized and with a great wave of relief, he saw Hermione trailing just behind him. As they joined him on the way up the great stone stairs, Harry felt the explosive need to spill everything that had happened. Although, the problem was that he didn't think they'd believe him.

"Where have you been mate?" Ron asked making a face of confusion. "Been looking for you since practice started. Why didn't you come?" he asked.

"I…" he stumbled for some kind of excuse when Hermione cut him off.

"Hurry up, he both of you. It's almost time for class. We can talk later." She hushed in a hurried whisper. She swept ahead of the both of them and Harry knew he'd fall in line and follow. Ron made a smart comment under his breath to Harry and smirked.

Arista was in his next class, which as he'd remembered, was Potions. She sat next to Draco and seemed annoyed to no end when he refused to stop whispering to the boy beside him. Halfway through the lesson she stamped her foot under the table on the very top of Malfoy's which earned her a heavy glare. She pointed to Slughorn and made a motion for him to pay attention and to listen. Amazingly enough, and much to Harry's surprise, he seemed to listen. It wasn't without a grudge through as he quickly shouldered her as he turned to face the professor where he stood speaking in the room. Although it jostled her in the chair, she rolled her eyes and continued watching him speak.

By the end of class Harry was keen to stop Arista and speak with her for a moment. There was something significant to her being different about this place. He felt that there had to be a reason for her being added here to his past. He wanted to know more about her than he'd unsuccessfully gained from Hermione on the way to class. He'd asked about her as offhandedly as possible but she hadn't known the girl terribly well. Apparently George and Fred had gotten to know her before leaving which gave reason for them being acquaintances only by happenstance. As Arista moved for the door Harry was about to say her name when the word died on his tongue.

"Harry!" a small girl around the age of eleven shouldered towards the door from the hallway waving.

"Oh no…" muttered Ron. "She's like a bloody pet isn't she? Follows you everywhere…" he eyed the small girl down.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped smacking him in the back of the head gently. "Be nice. Hannah's never done anything bad to you." She quipped.

"Yeah right she hasn't, but she's still an annoying little snot. Harry said she was just last week!" he defended himself.

"I did?" he asked Ron glancing at him. "I mean…who is she?" The small girl was nearer now and just at the door as the exited.

She was a tiny thing with pale freckled skin and wide set brown eyes. Her hair was plain and mousy just hanging in braids at her shoulders. Harry felt his eyes widen as he realized where he'd seen the features he recognized suddenly in her cheeks and neck; Petunia. He saw his Aunt Petunia in this small girls shoulder and neck and cheeks. The girl was grinning from ear to ear, bouncing on her toes with excitement.

"Harry!" she chittered clutching books against her chest. "I've been looking for you!" she grinned.

"Are you daft mate? She's you cousin…"Ron trailed off in his ear annoyed. "Somethings weird about you today. Did you get hexed?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I haven't been hexed." Harry hissed before glancing back down at Hannah.

"You look very happy today Hannah, what's happened?" Hermione asked the girl as she walked out to stand beside her.

"I hit a bludger today in practice and it nearly took off Draco's head!" Hannah laughed in a high trilling voice.

"Well done!" Ron said coming round and smacking the tiny girl in the shoulder.

"I wasn't trying to, it was an accident, but he fell off his broom trying to evade it." She grinned. "He threatened to have me thrown off the team if I didn't learn which way the bludger was supposed to be hit."

"Well you are supposed to hit members of the opposing team." Hermione trailed off looking slightly aghast that everyone was so happy to see the boys encouraging Hannah to hurt someone.

"It was only a bit of fun Hermione." Hannah chuckled. "Harry, are you alright?" she asked tilting her head.

"Fine." He smiled thinly. "Tired is all. I think I'm going to head back to the dorm for a bit and lay down."

"But what about classes…" Hermione was calling after him as he headed for the stairs. He ignored her voice. She didn't follow due to Ron telling her to lay off and that Harry had been really stressed lately anyway.

To Harry's second wave of relief his bed was the same one from before. He went straight to it and slumped down on the sagging mattress as his head began to swim. It was as if he were being flooded with things that he couldn't quite recall but that had always been there. It was like someone was planting memories that he didn't remember having. He gripped the sides of his head and crunched over with his head between his knees taking deeps breaths. There were a collapsible amount of memories that ripped through him all at once.

Harry saw a vision of the Dursley's bringing Hannah home in a tiny plain gray carrier. He remembered Dudley whining about having another child. He had gone on for hours into days crying and screaming that Hannah needed to go back at once! He'd begged his parents to take her back, to exchange her for something else, perhaps a TV. Harry hadn't been allowed near Hannah, so he'd only glanced at her from across rooms. However, on nights they'd forgotten to lock his cupboard, Harry had gone to Hannah's room. They'd cleared out Dudley's toy room to make space for the baby and they'd decorated it horribly in Harry's opinion. There had been an awful shade of pink that reminded him vaguely of Umbridge thrown over all the walls. The crib had been solid white wood, painted with tiny flowers adorning the edges. Harry felt an ebbing memory of reaching between the bars to feel Hannah's tiny fingers curl around his hand as he'd whisper to her in the crib. He'd always felt a gentle sort of connection to the child because as she'd grown, she'd been kind to him.

Of course Hannah had been kind to him out of necessity at the beginning of their friendship. When she'd first started showing signs of magic at age seven, the Dursley's had tried to ignore it. They'd explained it away with any coincidence they could, explaining it simply as Harry's doing. However, there had come a point when they'd no longer been able to ignore that it just wasn't Harry and that Hannah was able to perform magic. It had come in the form of Dudley taking Hannah's favorite teddy bear from her one afternoon while Harry was cooking lunch for them in the kitchen. Hannah had come running after the oaf and slid on the tile in the kitchen cornering him against the counter behind Harry.

She'd screamed at him to give the bear back and he'd refused sticking his tongue out at her. Harry had been about to take the bear back himself when suddenly Dudley's tongue had begun to swell. It continued to swell and grow longer like a great pink raindrop about to burst. Hannah's eyes had grown wide and Dudley had begun to make a sort of muffled scream. It wasn't long after that when Hannah's toys and belongings began to slowly diminish and disappear from the house. She'd been forbidden from certain family events for fear that she'd have an episode like Harry and the snake at the zoo.

Harry felt a small pang in his chest as the memories that he had a sneaking suspicion were being placed within his head, hit him. He cared about little Hannah Dursely. He cared about her because she and he had spent copious amounts of time together in his tiny cupboard while the Dursley's had ignored the both of them. He cared about tiny little Hannah Dursely like a sister. No, not _like_ a sister…

Harry blindly considered Hannah _his_ sister and no one was going to lay a hand on the little sprout.


End file.
